by Wesley Harris
If Congress has its way, we may soon set our clocks one last time.
The U.S. House has now passed the latest version of the Sunshine Protection Act, a bipartisan measure that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent across the country. The proposal now heads to the Senate, where similar efforts have stalled before. Whether it crosses the finish line this time remains to be seen, but the debate has certainly returned.
Like most folks, I’ve spent years grumbling every March when I lose an hour of sleep and every November when darkness seems to arrive before supper. If you ask people in line at the grocery store or gathered around the coffee pot, you’ll hear the same thing: “Just pick one and leave it alone.”
Simple enough.
Except … we’ve actually tried that before.
I remember it well.
Back during the 1973 oil embargo, when Americans worried about gasoline shortages and long lines at service stations, Congress decided permanent Daylight Saving Time might conserve energy. The experiment began in January 1974 and was supposed to last through April 1975. Instead, it was abandoned early after one winter because people discovered there was one thing worse than changing the clocks.
Driving to work in complete darkness.
Waiting for the school bus in complete darkness.
Watching children walk to school in complete darkness.
Here in Ruston, the editors of the Chatterbox, Ruston High School’s outstanding student newspaper, found the perfect way to capture what we were all experiencing.
At that time, the Chatterbox looked and read like a real newspaper. Its front-page masthead featured a familiar photograph of the school’s main entrance. During that winter, the editors quietly replaced it with an early morning photograph of the school shrouded in darkness. Every exterior light glowed against the black sky.
It was striking.
It was eerie.
And it perfectly illustrated what students were seeing every morning before first bell.
I can still picture it.
There’s something unsettling about arriving at school when it looks like midnight. It wasn’t just dark. It felt wrong. Our internal clocks knew morning was supposed to look different, even if the clock on the wall insisted otherwise.
That old newspaper masthead has stayed with me for more than 50 years because sometimes one photograph tells a story better than a thousand editorials.
Of course, today’s America isn’t exactly the America of 1974.
Many people work from home. School districts have adjusted start times. LED lighting makes parking lots brighter than football stadiums used to be. And most of us probably spend more time staring at glowing computer screens than looking out the window anyway.
Supporters of permanent Daylight Saving Time argue extra evening daylight encourages outdoor recreation, shopping, exercise and family activities. They also point to studies suggesting the twice-a-year clock changes disrupt sleep and may contribute to accidents and health problems. Critics counter that darker winter mornings are harder on schoolchildren, commuters and our natural body clocks, with several medical organizations favoring permanent standard time instead.
So, who’s right?
Probably both.
That’s the problem with time. You can’t create more daylight. You simply decide whether you’d rather have it before breakfast or after supper.
Personally, I enjoy those long summer evenings when daylight hangs around until almost 9 p.m. There’s something comforting about mowing the yard after work or sitting on the porch while the sun takes its sweet time going down.
But I also haven’t forgotten that Chatterbox photograph.
Sometimes history whispers a caution before we rush into repeating it.
Maybe permanent Daylight Saving Time will work better this time around. Maybe our lifestyles have changed enough that what failed in 1974 can succeed in 2026.
Or maybe, next January, someone will once again take a photograph of a school sitting in total darkness while students file through the doors.
If that happens, I hope someone saves the picture.
Because 50 years from now, another columnist may need it to remind readers that Congress has been trying to fix time for a very long time.
And time, as it usually does, has a way of getting the last word.
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